NURMAHAL: Vendors and shopkeepers continue to encroach upon the approach road to Nurmahal Sarai, a protected monument. Vendors selling fruit juice, vegetables, and other eatables have installed temporary stalls with the alleged connivance of government officials. All shopkeepers selling materials have blatantly placed materials in front of their shops.
The approach road has become an open tavern. Temporary stalls serve fried fish, eggs, chicken, and other eatables to people who park their vehicles in front of the Lahori Gate.
Pickup vehicles and auto-rickshaw drivers have made the approach road their permanent stand. Residents have repeatedly asked the director general of the Archaeological Survey of India to remove unauthorized parking encroachments on the approach road. They have even brought this problem to the notice of the Union cultural minister, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and the President of India.
The MC had passed a unanimous resolution to protect the Nurmahal Sarai, but it is reluctant to clear the encroachments on the approach road under political pressure. The municipal council (MC) removed girders to regulate traffic on it in 2015. These girders were installed when the approach road was declared a traffic zone following an order passed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court. But after some time, the MC removed iron ropes from these girders, which regulated traffic from 9 am to 6 pm.
Recently Nakodar MLA Inderjit Kaur Mann who faced problems of encroachment to reach a school function ordered the police to remove encroachments but to no avail.